A Past Forged Anew
by K. A. Raith
Summary: He breaks a future of blood and ashes and uses the pieces to reshape history. [Time-travel fic. Uryū-centric. Warnings inside. In progress.]


**__****Disclaimer: **_I don't own Bleach; Kubo Tite does. I do, however, own the idea and plot behind this story._

_**Setting:**_ _Massive AU ten years before the start of the manga; massive AU post-chapter 546 for the future timeline._

_**Warning: **__Blanket spoiler up to the current manga arc, gen with strong friendship/bromance between two main characters,_ _English isn't author's first language, un-beta'ed. Don't read further if you're uncomfortable with the aforementioned stuffs._

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**A Past Forged Anew**

**Arc the First**

**Prologue - Starting Point**

Ishida Uryū opened his eyes one morning, and he was a child of five, lying on a familiar bed under a familiar ceiling inside a familiar room.

His breath left him in one explosive rush, and he immediately closed his eyes again, suddenly feeling very light-headed.

... _It worked._

He swallowed thickly once before breathing in and out, _in _and _out _through his slightly parted lips, mind purposely blanked out from any thought except his own mental voice, in a foreign tongue well-practiced – the tongue of his clan's outland forefathers – steadily counting down _one thousand, nine hundred and ninety-nine, nine hundred and ninety-eight, nine hundred and ninety-seven__–_

He slowed down after _eight hundred and ten _and stopped completely at _seven hundred and thirty-four_, breath escaped in one long, measured hiss; his heart no longer felt like it was trying to hammer itself out of his chest and crawl up into his throat at the same time, and it was only then that he finally allowed, _dared_ himself to really take _it _in.

_It worked._

_It really worked._

A chuckle tinged with the slightest bit disbelief and exasperation and various other feelings he couldn't rightly name slipped out of his lips, sounding so out of place coming from such youthful figure. Eyes blinked open, the sight of an orderly, spacious bedroom entered his vision but all he saw was an open night sky where all the stars were visible, and a dark, silent figure standing vigil under the silver glow of moonlight with six majestic wings spread in full, countless delicate black feathers sculpted out of pure _reishi_ shimmering in pale gold.

_The traitor had said it was impossible, and I had believed him – so of course you just had to take it as personal challenge and prove us wrong._

The urge to break into a full-blown laugh bubbled up inside him, barely held in check under his usual calm composure.

_I should've known better._

He shouldn't have doubted.

_... Damn you._

The last one was thought out with a wry fondness, as had been the case most of the time his mind wandered over the subject of one particular person, the one who had readily made a great sacrifice to open this path for him–

–the steadfast companion he'd left behind.

_... I won't waste your gift._

He let out one long sigh before steeling himself, memories of an ever watchful figure and arched wings under starlit night set aside for the time being as he pushed himself into upright position. His small toes barely brushed the floor when he sat on the edge of the bed, and once again he had to suppress the urge to laugh at the absurdity of it all.

_Here I am, five years old and not quite right in the head, tasked to prevent the worlds from tearing at the seams._

Lips twitched with a hint of dark humor, he huffed and pushed himself off the bed. His hand was already reaching toward the bedside table before he managed to stop it halfway, belatedly recalling that while he indeed had started wearing glasses since a very young age the first time around, it hadn't happened until several weeks after his sixth birthday.

He frowned. He'd need to do something about that particular problem later. Glasses were a liability he could ill-afford. Granted, he could always get laser later on just like he'd done a few years before he came back, but he'd prefer it very much if he didn't have to experience such discomfort to have good eyesight this time around.

_Knowing my luck, though..._

He shook his head, dispelling the thought before it could fully manifest.

_... Later. There would be a time to worry about that later._

_First thing first – situation assessment._

He smoothed out the wrinkles on his starcross-patterned pajamas, before padding determinedly toward the door and reached for the knob.

… _Here's to hope I won't blow things too early._

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_**Author's Note:**_

_My brain really needs to stop throwing up new ideas._

… _Thoughts?_

_**~Keylan Raith**_


End file.
